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Barney, Rizzo finalists for Gold Glove Awards

Barney, Rizzo finalists for Gold Glove Awards

9/7/13: Darwin Barney makes a difficult stop on a sharp grounder off the bat of Norichika Aoki, getting the out at first to end the frame

By Carrie Muskat
/
MLB.com |

CHICAGO -- Second baseman Darwin Barney and first baseman Anthony Rizzo are finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, announced Friday.

Winners will be revealed on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Barney, 27, who ousted Brandon Phillips last year to win his first Gold Glove, is one of three National League finalists, along with the Reds' second baseman and the Dodgers' Mark Ellis.

Barney led the NL in fielding percentage, but was seventh in zone rating, which is determined by how many plays a fielder makes and how many were hit into his zone. Phillips, who won the award in 2008 and 2010-11, was second in zone rating at .833 behind the Padres' Jedd Gyorko (.851).

This year, Gold Glove ballots included an additional packet of statistics, as Rawlings collaborated with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) to formally incorporate sabermetrics as a component of the award.

A committee of experts in baseball analytics and defensive measurement devised the SABR Defensive Index (SDI), which draws on and aggregates two types of existing defensive metrics: those derived from batted ball, location-based data, and those collected by from play-by-play accounts.

The two metrics included in the SDI from play-by-play data are defensive-regression analysis, created by committee member Michael Humphreys, and total zone rating.

The plan, according to Rawlings and SABR, is to have the SDI complement the judgment by the managers and coaches. The SABR Defensive Index will account for 30 total votes -- or approximately 25 percent -- of the Gold Glove Award selection process, and will be added to the votes from the managers and coaches.

Major League managers and coaches received their ballots in September.

"It probably helps when people are doing the voting, because it's right there in front of them and they can see what guys have done, as well as errors and range and everything," Dale Sveum said in September about the additional information.

As for Barney, Sveum said the second baseman has "done nothing to give his [award] away, that's for sure."

At first base, Rizzo will be competing for his first Gold Glove against the Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez -- who is vying for his third, and first since 2009 -- and the D-backs' Paul Goldschmidt.

Rizzo, 24, and Goldschmidt were tied for second in the NL in fielding percentage behind the Rockies' Todd Helton, and the Cubs' first baseman led the NL in zone rating (.902).

This was Rizzo's first full season in the big leagues. Derrek Lee was the last Cubs' first baseman to win a Gold Glove, doing so in 2007. The Cubs have not had multiple Gold Glove winners since 2005, when Lee and Greg Maddux both won top defensive honors.